See how Twitter’s new policy plays out before ad boycott, experts warn
By Abimbola Mohammed
Against the backdrop of the announcement made by Elon Musk, owner of Twitter, to charge $8 monthly subscription of blue tick and also to loosen Twitter content rules, advertisers who provide 90% of Twitter’s revenue are increasingly grappling with Musk’s ownership of the platform.
Since Musk announced the change in policy, some global brands and agencies have said they will boycott Twitter for the meantime to see the outcome of the decision.
Experts in the Nigerian Marketing Communication Industry (IMC), while speaking to MARKETING EDGE in separate interviews, argued that the new policy may affect their decision on Twitter advertisement.
Temitayo Ige, Global Brand Communication, Beiersdorf, noted that even though Twitter is not part of their media strategy, there is need for brands and agencies to take time to see how Twitter’s new policy will play out before making any decision to boycott the app.
“I imagine that brands and agencies may need to take a moment to see what changes would be made in the coming months to really decide what they will do going forward. We have heard a lot of talks, but let’s see what finally gets auctioned,” he said.
On the area of monetizing the platform, the veteran noted that it won’t be totally a bad idea if the new owner decides to monetize the platform after careful thought.
“I understand the need to monetize the platform and make it a profitable business, but such decisions like the money for verification need to be taken after a very careful thought. Is this something the previous owners have never thought of? If they have, why didn’t they go ahead with it? If they didn’t think about it then how are other platforms doing it? Do they monetize such or not? Without clearly thinking about this initiative, the platform might run into problems,” she said.
Speaking on why verification is needed on some pages in her own view, she said: “One of the reasons why verification was important to businesses (and people) is so consumers can differentiate the real account from the fake one. If anyone can now be eligible for verification, we can see how that will pose a huge challenge for businesses.”
Sherif Akinpelu, Deputy Director, Strategy & Planning, SPV Communication Solutions, noted that it is too soon for any decision to be made on the matter as it is a developing issue.
“It will be too soon for any Nigerian agency to make hasty decisions about boycotting Twitter. Don’t forget that our job is to go where our target audiences are. If they are on Twitter, we will go there. The only reason we might boycott Twitter might be if there is another suspension by the Federal Government of Nigeria,” he said.
It would be recalled that the federal government of Nigeria stated recently that there has been a spike in fake news, disinformation and hate speech since the business magnate, Musk took over ownership of the micro-blogging site.
According to Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, the issue has elicited a lot of inquiries, particularly from the media, and bordering on what will become of the government’s agreement with Twitter in view of the change in its ownership.
Recall that IPG, a holding company with several agencies handling advertising spend, through its media agencies advised clients to temporarily pause their spending on Twitter because of moderation concerns, General Motors also announced recently that it has temporarily suspended its advertising on Twitter. Omnicom Media Group, in the same vein, warned its clients not to spend on Elon Musk-run Twitter’s advertising campaigns amid chaos.
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